Michael Weiss is the Research Director of The Henry Jackson Society, a foreign policy think tank, as well as the co-chair of its Russia Studies Centre. A native New Yorker, he has written widely on English and Russian literature, American culture, Soviet history and the Middle East. Follow @michaeldweiss

Russian oligarch who owns priciest property in Britain owns the ship that allegedly sent weapons to Bashar al-Assad last week

The Professor Katsman, which allegedly carried arms for the Assad regime

Last Saturday, a day after shabiha thugs and soldiers loyal to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad executed close to 80 people in the district of Houla, the Professor Katsman, a general cargo ship sailing under the Russian flag, docked in the Syrian port of Tartus. According to al-Arabiya, the ship was carrying yet another consignment of Russian weapons for use by the Assad regime, a claim which Western diplomats and officials deemed credible.

I did some digging earlier today and discovered that the Professor Katsman, which originally set sail from St Petersburg, is owned by Russian company called North Western Shipping, which is controlled by Universal Cargo Logistics (UCL) Holding, an international transportation group with corporate addresses in Moscow and Amsterdam.

The owner of UCL Holding is Russia’s second-wealthiest businessman, Vladimir Lisin, whose net worth, according to Forbes, is estimated at $15.9 billion.

Like many Russian oligarchs, Lisin has investigated heavily in real estate in the UK. In addition to owning the 3,300-acre Aberuchill Castle estate in Perthshire, which he purchased for £6.8m, last August Lisin bought the 300-year-old Park Place mansion in Oxfordshire for £140m, making it the most expensive property in Britain.

UCL Holding’s Amsterdam address ought to prompt the Netherlands and other EU members states, which have imposed an arms embargo on Syria, to investigate whether or not the Professor Katsman has violated sanctions. Furthermore, the boat is technically registered by a Maltese company called Rusich 12 Ltd, which is owned by a Cypriot one called Russich-NW Shipholding, which belongs to North Western Shipping. Malta and Cyprus therefore have grounds to investigate as well.

I rang North Western Shipping to ask about the Professor Katsman. A spokesperson for the company had no comment when asked what the cargo was and whether or not the company even owned the vessel.